Obituaries

Resident of Los Altos for 44 years, Shirley passed peacefully at home, surrounded by her loved ones, her books, and the many things she held close to her heart. Born Shirley Margaret Brown in Cordell, OK to Kenneth and Loreta Brown, Shirley moved to San Francisco after marrying James Clark in 1949. They relocated to Mill Valley in 1950, where they raised their four daughters until their divorce in 1966, and Shirley and the girls moved to the South Bay.

Shirley is survived by her daughters, Jamie Zamen of Mountain View, Kyle Taylor (Mark) of Cupertino, Becky Bahn (Jim) of Ben Lomond, and Beth Robles (Bob) of San Jose, as well as her grandchildren Rebecca Zamen, Garrett, Griffin and Hilary Taylor, Derek and Lindsey Bahn, and Ryan and Jordan Robles. Her sister, Barbara Reuter of El Reno, OK and nieces and nephew also survive her. She is predeceased by her grandson Tyler Zamen, and her son-in-law Mark Zamen.

From 1966 on, Shirley raised her daughters by herself, sometimes holding as many as three jobs. But she always found the time to expose her daughters to the world at large, with multiple visits to museums, the California missions, trips to the beach, and even political rallies. Shirley’s many passions included history (she stopped to read every historical marker she passed on road trips), Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, current events, the movies, her garden, her sewing, knitting, needlepoint and many crafts projects, her cats, and of course books of all kinds.

Shirley’s career was in hospital and medical office administration. She oversaw the transitions to automated billing at El Camino Hospital, Alexian Brothers Hospital, and many local medical clinics. She was the office manager at Camino Medical Group in Mountain View for many years, and because of her love of the movies, she owned and operated Video Land on Miramonte Avenue in Mountain View during the mid-1980s.

The family would like to thank Dolores Regalado and her children for their love and care of “Grandma” for the last year and a half, and a special thanks to Garrett Taylor, Shirley’s grandson, for being her housemate, caregiver, and doting companion for the last several years. She loved you all so much. And thank you to the Sunnyvale Health Care Center, Pathways Hospice, and the Neptune Society for their help during this emotional time.

To honor Shirley’s memory, she would want you to read a book. Services will be private.

Obituary Policy

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Deadline: Thursday at noon, for publication the following Wednesday (6 days later). If a holiday falls within that week, check with us about special publication deadlines.

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